Midwest MTB Racing Report
Mother Nature had the final say this past weekend, bringing an unfortunate gloomy forecast which included more rain, forcing the cancellation of the Red Wing Classic, race #3 in the Minnesota series. Despite the recent wet weather, racing/riding did occur in areas in the Midwest including the epic Chequemegon 100. This weeks report also includes a review of mountain biking in the Duluth area, a special report from Josh Bauer who raced at a National event in Missoula, a couple mountain bike related items to note and the look ahead.
Piedmont Perfection - Mountain Biking Duluth
Last week we were in the Duluth area for a day, visiting Jake which included a afternoon shred of area trails. Jake took me on a big loop, covering the Hartley and Piedmont trail systems. The morning we left, I checked out the trails at Spirit Mountain. These trail systems are part of a long term goal called the Duluth Traverse.
The Duluth Traverse is a shared vision that COGGS and the City of Duluth has for a multi-use, singletrack trail that is purpose-built for mountain biking and completely traverses the entire 26 mile long City of Duluth.
The Duluth Traverse Trail System will feature trail centers with more extensive trail networks in Lester Park, Hartley Park, Piedmont-Brewer Park, Spirit Mountain and Mission Creek and the beginner level Duluth Traverse Trail linking them all together. The goal for this system is to create the first 100+ mile system of singletrack all within an urban environment. This will connect communities together via natural surface trails and also create an environment where everyone has trail access within a short distance of their home that they enjoy via mountain biking, hiking, running or snowshoeing.
Last fall I had the opportunity to ride Hartley but didn't get the full effect like I did riding with Jake. He had a route that covered the entire trail system. I was on his wheel, flying through enjoying some sweet flowing singletrack total trust he would keep it clean was we were flying past trees. The non stop twisting and turning in a deep woods setting had me smiling ear to ear.
After we rode here we biked our way through the Duluth neighborhoods to Piedemont. it was my first time riding the entire trail system at Piedemont. The first time I rode was spent looking for routes and really only riding one downhill segment which was super, super technical but a lot of fun!. Jake had ridden here a few times this spring and had a route dialed in that featured some of the best singletrack I have ever ridden along! This statement shouldn't be taken lightly after riding some of the favorite trail systems in the Midwest including the CAMBA, Cuyuna and most races in the MN and WI series and many trails in between. A huge shout out to the COGGS trail crew for designing a trail that features some old school technical singletrack and just the right amount of flowy berms. I can't wait to get back!
The third stop was at Spirit Mountain, hitting up the downhill flow trail "Candyland". A different style or riding with the hardtail on architect built trails but a super fun ride down! Also hit up a few of the other downhill trails including "Blaster" which was part of the old Powder Monkey course and some of the most technical downhilling on a cross country course in the Midwest.
Chequemgon 100
The epic Chequemegon 100 was held this past week on the CAMBA trails offering 100 miles of singletrack bliss for endurance minded riders. Eric Guse files a report:
The Chequamegon 100 was something I've wanted to do for years, so this spring I got signed up before the race filled up. I think it took about 24 hours to fill up. I had never ridden the CAMBA trails before, so I was exited to hit the trails. We led out at 7 am on a fire road just outside of cable and entered the single track 2 miles later ( a section called rock lake). I immediately knew what I was in for. World class singletrack and let's just call it a physical challenge! 100 miles and 9+ hours later I rolled into the bar in Cable, signed my name on the finish sheet, and grabbed a beer. What a race!
Missoula PRO XCT National
Minnesota Elite riders Josh Bauer and Eric Thompson made the trip west to complete in both the short track and cross county at the Missoula PRO XCT National Race. Josh provides a full report:
Missoula Pro XCT. Great venue, great race, great community and great weather. This passed weekends trip was one of the best I've ever had. Eric Thompson and I departed from Minneapolis and head West last Wednesday to take on our first time at the Missoula Pro XCT. Not knowing much about the event we were in for a treat with everything we had planned for the trip.
We delayed our travel time by stopping in the badlands in Medora, ND to ride the Maah Daah Hey trail on Thursday afternoon to keep our legs moving. It was really neat to see the landscape change when we hit West North Dakota. It went from being super flat to all the sudden seeing canyon's and huge bluffs around the Medora area and the riding was phenomenal, it was hard to keep your eyes on the trail because we just wanted to keep looking at the beautiful scenery. We snapped a few pictures of each other and then we headed to Butte, MT to stay the night before heading our last two hours to Missoula.
We arrived in Missoula Friday morning around 11 and headed straight for the course to get a good pre ride in before we needed to relax before both of our Short Track races later that evening. The venue was held at Marshall Mountain, It's an older ski resort and I'm not sure if it's still operates in the winter time. Beautiful area with lots of scenery. The cross country race went a lot like this; climbing, climbing, some more climbing, single track, climb, climb, climb, 6 foot drop jump, climb and then finally a technical descent down to the bottom. Roughly over 900 feet of climbing each lap. It was definitely an adjustment that needed to be made for us Midwesterners. We were not used to that much climbing. A few highlights of the course that I saw and mostly where the spectators were all standing was the 6 foot drop jump at the top of the climb. I had chickened out doing it ever time during our pre ride so I told myself I'd rather lose the 5 seconds each lap than leaving the resort with something broken. The descent was fast and pretty long. Lots of switchbacks with some technical smaller drop turns. After 3 laps we felt pretty comfortable with the course and we headed back to town to rest up in prep for our races later in the evening.
I'll jump into my Short Track race a little bit. I lined up for the Open Men Category, which included Category 1,2 and 3's. There were 18 of us lined up for the race and only 6 finished at the end. I had a good start and I rode in a group of 5 for majority of the race and then the top 3 put on a huge attack with about 7 minutes left in the race and I fell off the back. I raced a few minutes by myself and the young Anderson brothers that race for Santa Cruz caught me and we rode a few laps together, I ended up passing the two brothers with a few hundred feet before the line to take the 4th step on the podium. I had made up for the trip with this result and was super stoked on my performance hoping I hadn't used all I had before my XC race in the morning. Also, to mention Eric Thompson, he had a 8th place finish in the Pro Men STXC beating a lot of strong national guys. Congrats to Eric.
10:30 Saturday Morning the gun went off and I found myself at the front of the race leading the Cat 1 men up the climb. About 3/4th of the way up the climb my spot didn't last very long as Christopher Blevins a Whole Athlete rider flew by me like I was walking up the hill. A few riders chased him down and I was sitting about 5th spot on the descent down and held that spot for two laps. It wasn't until my 3rd lap that my legs were starting to say no to all this climbing. I had to throttle it back and let a few guys pass me as I was slowly dragging up the climb. I made it to the descent winded and out of breath and was thinking my race might be shot at this point with thoughts of quitting but I hung on and I made it down the descent without an issue and it was onto my last and final lap. Deep in the pain cave I gave it all I had, knowing I had to only climb this place one more time. I caught two riders on the climb and put a gap on them before the descent and sprinted to the line with a 9th place finish.
Really happy with my results being from the Midwest and racing against some of the best at a National event. It was awesome to represent Minnesota and BkB/T6. The trip was successful for Eric and I. I plan on making the trip again next summer but in hopes I'll be lining up for the pro race. (Photos: Josh Bauer)
Grand Opening of Cottage Grove Bike Park
The Grand Opening of the Cottage Grove Park is this week. This will be the official opening of phase one of the bike park, which includes a 4x course and 2 pump track.
On tap is a evening of riding, music and more. Olive Pizza will be onsite selling and baking 10” brick oven pizzas; the first 60 people will receive a coupon for 50% off.
Copper Harbor Recognition
On June 6, National Trails Day, the National Park Service officially designated the Copper Harbor Trails as a national recreation trail. The 30-mile trail system is already a Silver-level Ride Center, as determined by the International Mountain Bicycling Association.
In its press release, the park service noted that the Copper Harbor Trail system "has sweeping views of Lake Superior, extensive singletrack over cedar-planked bridges and boardwalks, flow and gravity trails, and routes that wind through old growth forests, along streams, inland lakes and places of historical significance. The trails are also open for hiking, trail running, backcountry skiing, and snowshoeing."
Riding (or not) in Wet Conditions
In their most recent newsletter, the Minnesota Off Road Cyclists highlighted riding during a wet cycle as we are experiencing now. "One of the most confusing and often frustrating issues surrounding mountain biking in our area is the concept of not riding on wet trails.
Put simply, to keep our trails from eroding we avoid riding wet trails. Many come from areas that don’t worry about wet trails or grew up riding their bikes in mud and wonder why they should care". The Lebanon Hills page has a thorough description of riding in wet conditions and how damaging it can be and why it should be avoided. It applies to many other trails in the metro area, state, and around the world.
Looking Ahead
Endurance mountain bike racing heads up the shore to Lutsen for the Lutsen 99er. Wet conditions haven't been lacking either in the arrowhead and organizers are predicting a few muddy sections but overall good course conditions. Just a short change in course but a ton of mountain biking on tap and a full day in the saddle.
World Cup style racing makes way to Buck Hill, hitting up the slopes of the popular alpine area in southern metro. The course drains well and the sandy nature of the course should have it in race ready condition if additional rain falls before race day. Personally, one of my favorite and most memorable places to race.
Keep the wheels moving!
 | About the author... Jay Richards maintains a very active lifestyle. He somehow finds time between managing a full-time resort (Maplelag) and bringing up a family of four boys with his wife Jonell, to compete in both mountain bike and a few cross-country ski races. Jay rides for Maplelag Resort, manages the Maplelag/Paramount/Podiumwear mountain bike team and enters his 24th year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. |